Greater Athens. Sightseeing tour of Athens with a visit to the Acropolis (4-4.5 hours)
Description:
Description of the tour in two words
The tour "Greater Athens" includes a walking tour of the Acropolis (excursion of 1.5-2 hours, including a photo session) and a large sightseeing tour by car with a visit to the Likavitos hill, stops at the Panathenaic (white marble) stadium, changing the guard at the Parliament building and other sights of the city. The amount of information here is the largest, however, the time will be 4-4.5 hours in general (together with the survey and the Acropolis), but not a continuous flow of information, and with breaks at the photo shoot both during the sightseeing tour and during the tour of the Acropolis.
Now let me tell you what we're going to see. In the description below, first the Acropolis and its monuments, then the hill of Lykavitos and a sightseeing tour of Athens.
I will not bore you with a lengthy description of each monument, since a whole layer of world culture is connected with each place. Below is an announcement of historical monuments, with minute videos and a small written announcement. More on the tour.
The main tour in Athens in general has not changed over the past 2500 years, except that the buildings are a little dilapidated, and guides periodically changed. However, there is no overgrown tourist trail to the rock of the Acropolis. The people, both in the age of Pericles and today, admire the Parthenon, the Erechthion, in a word, the Acropolis. Regarding ancient Athens, I can quote one ancient Greek - Lisippus (a famous worker of tourism of antiquity), who, apparently, during the presentation of the next excursion tour to Athens with a visit to the Acropolis in a state of passion uttered the following phrase:
You're a fool if you haven't seen Athens! But if you saw and did not admire, you are a donkey, and if you voluntarily left Athens, you are a camel.
So, if you want to feel like a person, a tour of the Athenian Acropolis is a must in the process of becoming a person. Let's start with the Parthenon.
The Parthenon temple (one of the symbols of Greek civilization) is impressive not only for its scale and degree of preservation, but also for its unique mathematical calculation. Lightness and harmony of the huge design is the standard of beauty for two and a half millennia.
The Temple of Erechthion. It was located on the site of the mythical dispute between Athena and Poseidon for the possession of Attica. It is best known for the Caryatid portico.
Propylaea - the word "propylaea" means "the door", and they were a monumental entrance to the Acropolis (a kind of hall). There was an art gallery of Ancient Athens and the famous temple of Niki is being restored.
The Odeon of Herodes of Attic (the only active antique theater of the city). The Odeon has the classical form of an ancient theater with 5,000 seats, in which almost everything from the time of construction has survived to our time.
Rock Areopagus. The place where the eponymous court of Ancient Athens (court of elders) and the place of preaching of the Apostle Paul sat. From here he voiced the famous phrase about the “altar to the unknown God”:
As I passed and examined your shrines, I also found an altar on which it is written: “To the unknown God.” This is the one whom you honor without knowing, I preach to you (Acts 17:23).
From this mountain, also called the hill Lycabett, opens a striking beauty panorama of Athens, the Acropolis and the Aegean Sea. By the way, Mount Lykavitos is higher than the Acropolis, its height is 277 m. The mountain can be seen from almost every corner of Athens. From there you will see this view.
The Evzones (well girded) are now the Presidential Guard, which carries an honor guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and guards the Presidential Palace in Athens.
Under the auspices of the Athens Academy, there are 12 research centers, 10 research departments and the central library named after Ioannis Sikoutris. The Foundation for Biomedical Research of the Academy of Athens was established in 2002. The Greek Institute of Byzantine and Post-Byzantine Studies (Venice) also operates under the direction of the Academy.
The temple dedicated to the Thunderer Zeus, or, as it is also called, the Temple of Olympian Zeus, was the largest temple of ancient Greece.
This is not surprising, considering the fact that the construction of the temple took almost 650 years!!
Panathenaic, or "White Marble" stadium. The first Olympic Games of the modern history of mankind were held in this ancient stadium in 1896 (see the link on the photo for more details). You will have the opportunity to walk around the stadium and even run the “stages”.